Tubs

When sewing tyres its best to use the same holes.. and do a loop stitch.. pulling tight with each loop.. The orginal stitch is a zipper and that is NOT what one wants.. The loop stitch is stronger but its purely a hand stitch. Go forward 2 holes, back 1, forward 2, back one.. This way they cross and make for a good strong casing. Cover with a bit of liquid latex or Remia rubber and re-attach the base-tape. The most important things are 1) keep the amount of the tyre opened to a minimum 2) use very strong thread (Belfast waxed linen thread as once used by UK Army is ideal and cheap through the usual surplus channels) 3) Use a regular balanced stitching technique to not create lumps 4) Stop worrying.

A picture's worth a thousand words.

?

There's a billion loop stitches BTW. I second 4) ;)

BTW Continental doesn't seem to use a Zipper. At least not one I could find by Googling Zipper. It's a vertical loop from top to bottom with a horizontal thread on bottom. The "fuknosewhatitscalled" loop.

I tested my sowing by inflating hard before assuming to check for bulges/unevenness.

Sudden loud bang, almost instant deflation:

Obviously I couldn't see the size of the hole at the time so I shot some sealant in- which promptly bubbled our of 6-7 cuts on the tyre in the same patch, centred around one larger one (from which I'd removed a piece of glass before using the sealant.

I removed the tub, fitted the pre-glued spare.

The majority of the glue on the rim bed came off with the old tub, so I rode a few miles to the railway station and called it quits for the day.

It's not too late for a morning after pill.

^^ Ah bad luck dammit :( I read you can replace an inner tube if needed on sowed tubs if you feel up to the challenge...

Mine's back on the road after some sowing/gluing. There's something Freudian about poking around in 2 inch wide gaps with your fingers trying to get a tire boot in a very narrow space...

That tyre was probably 200 miles past the point at which it should have been replaced to be honest- it's got about 2,000 miles on it.

I've got a couple stretching, I'll chuck one on when I gather the motivation.

Do I need to scrub this off, or can I just chuck a fresh layer of glue over it and chuck a new tyre on?

That looks fairly even i wouldent try to remove it but thats me dunno how everyone else does.

i'd just get rid of the bits that are flaking off or lumpy. If the old glue is even and still well bonded to the rim i tend to think it wont be a problem.

Bonza, I'll do that.

I'd have happily done the rest of the ride, but the glue-bed under the section of the tub which I peeled off first came away from the rim, and I just didn't have quite enough faith in my pre-glued tub staying on in extremis.

I was also, to be fair, possibly looking for an excuse to bail.

When I pulled the spare tub off last night it was on pretty effectively.

PitStop- obviously didn't work yesterday, I've come to the conclusion that if the tyre goes down over a period of time (say: 30 seconds) sealant will help you, if the hole vents the entire contents of the tyre at once then it's change the tyre time.

How long had your spare had its layer of glue on Neil? I've always wondered if the glue gets old and useless after a while.

At least a year, probably 2 thinking about it.

Nice, good info. I keep my spare dry tbh. I reckon if you take it easy you dont need any glue at all.

^ i should have said i'd still clean the rim of dust/dirt before you glue again. Gluing onto muck isn't a great idea - but you knew that...

I was going to give it a rub down with some acetone to clear off any gack, then glue over the whole thing.

cool. sorry if that was patronising, just being safe not sorry etc

No worries, all advice welcome.

Unles it's from a known fib-factory like Lynx, but he doesn't seem to venture onto the "actually cycles" threads.

Silly question- acetone won't reduce the ability of the glue that is left on the rim bed to adhere?

Not sure, but my instinct says don't use acetone. You want to clean dirt off, not glue.

No worries, all advice welcome.

Unles it's from a known fib-factory like Lynx, but he doesn't seem to venture onto the "actually cycles" threads.

Silly question- acetone won't reduce the ability of the glue that is left on the rim bed to adhere?

Could actually have a drying effect.

Personally I'd use a wet cloth. But thats based on chemistry knowledge not tub knowledge.

Supposedly Acetone doesn't remove glue. Nitromor does.

So it may be safe, but vinegar or any other old household degreaser with NO SOAP in it may work too.

Back on the road for me. I missed my Ciocc. Worth the hassle of gluing for me.

I was thinking back the other day on a Roberts Lo-Pro that I had in the early 80s. It was used as my everyday bike. I got the bike from a serious racer, so it came to me with a real old skool tester set up of 19mm Conti Olympic Track tubular on the rear - the cream coloured one, and a very light silk on the front - can't remeber which one, now.

Anyway, I very rarely had any punctures - the bike was ridden every day all over town. The rear tub was worn down to the casing and still punctured very rarely. When it did, I did my own very lo-fi repairs. They cetainly punctured much, much less than my Gatorskin clinchers do, now. I guess the tubs where well mutured. So, I think a really good quality matured tubs should be very puncture proof.

The boyfriend never had p_nct_r_s and he was running old tubulars. You may have a point there...unless you live in a town where they clean streets/people don't litter as much.

I've a big cut on the front and 2 small cuts at the back on Conti Sprinter Gatorskin. Glass is the main issue where I live due to pubs/people throwing bottles on the street.

Mature tubs may have tougher rubber. Silk thread is very strong so may stop the cuts getting to the tube.

When mine went yesterday it was clear (from the latex bubbling through) that there were many cuts in the tyre, but they'd not penetrated the tube- only the one had done that.

I was going to give it a rub down with some acetone to clear off any gack, then glue over the whole thing.

That would be my suggestion, if acetone does actually affect the old glue. If it does it is perfect, because the old glue will soften, and any rubbish stuck to it will come away with the cloth. ( piece of sheet dipped in acetone is best, in my opinion)
Leave it till it stops feeling tacky and put on another layer.
If acetone doesn't affect the glue it will effectively degrease it, and once dry you can carry on. In any case you should use the same type of glue as was used before, that is where some problems occur.

After all the discussion. I will be riding Corsa Evos tubs. As that's what I've been given.

As tester predicted.